As part of the settlement, a nurse or emergency medical technician is required to be on site at the Waller County Jail during all shifts, and electronic monitoring sensors will be implemented to prevent the falsification of jail records, as well as insure timely cell checks.

Reed-Veal explained it was important not to just have a monetary settlement, but to also force changes within the Waller County criminal justice system. She told Martin, “The importance for me was the fact that all across the nation, nobody has been addressing these deaths that have been occurring.

“It was important that we have something put in place that would say ‘No, we’re not going to operate with business as usual anymore. No, we’re really going to make some real changes that we know will make a difference in the lives of many others.’”

Reed-Veal continued, “I can’t bring Sandy back, she’s not coming back. But I got to tell you, there will be lots of lives saved and changed with this new agreement.”

Martin asked Reed-Veal, who appeared on NewsOne Now with attorney Cannon Lambert, whether she was looking to turn this into a national initiative.

“I am hoping only and praying feverishly that this will be a nationwide effort,” she responded. “Nationwide we have been losing lives for a very long time. So why not have a nationwide effort to change the way that we do things?”

Watch Roland Martin, Geneva Reed-Veal, Bland family attorney Cannon Lambert, and the NewsOne Now panel discuss the settlement in the video clip above.